Richard Saunders (born 28 November 1965) is an Australianskeptic, podcaster, and professional origamist. He received recognition by the Australian Skeptics with a Life Membership in 2001 for his contributions to the organisation.[1] Saunders was twice president[2][3] of the Australian Skeptics, and he founded Sydney Skeptics in the Pub.[4] He has presented on skepticism, represented the Australian Skeptics on television and radio shows, and is the co-host of the Skeptic Zone podcast.

After graduating from high school, Saunders joined educational publisher Ashton Scholastic and sold educational software for Apple II and Commodore 64 home computers. In 1988 he began authoring over twenty books on origami,[6] which subsequently were featured on the Australian children's television program Wombat,[7] The ABC Afternoon Show,[8] and similar programs.

He also worked as a web designer for The Advance Bank of Australia and Commonwealth Bank[2] and in 1999 was transferred to EDS, where he designed the interface for netBank online banking and worked for two years before joining GreenStone Pty Ltd as a web designer for three years.

In 2013 he was invited to be a member of the "World Competition Jury" at Academia Film Olomouc's 48th International Festival of Science Documentary Films or AFO48 in the Czech Republic.[10] He also gave a lecture on the claims of water divining as part of the "Pseudoscience" block and a lecture and workshops on origami as part of the "Beauty of Numbers" block.[11][12][13]

In 2008 he and Gary Clark produced "DVD Origami," an instructional DVD with step-by-step instructions on how to fold 20 paper models.[14]

Saunders has over 10 years of experience researching claims of the paranormal.[2] As a teenager he was inspired by Channel 7's Great Mysteries of the World with Scott Lambert; he was surprised at just how easily people could fool themselves, even after being shown evidence that they may be wrong.[15] A TV documentary called James Randi in Australia was another great skeptical influence on Saunders.[9] He joined the committee of the Australian Skeptics in 2001 and has been President and Vice President[2] of the organization. He was granted a Life Membership in the organization in recognition of his work on The Great Skeptic CD.[1] He went on to create the Great Water Divining DVD and the "card carrying skeptic card." He founded Sydney Skeptics in the Pub,[4] initiated "The Skeptic Tank" radio show on Net.FM with Stefan Sojka,[16] produced The Australian Skeptics collection on "Theories of Everything" for TVS local Sydney TV, and created several of the Australians Skeptics convention DVDs. He was the acting artistic director and layout manager for The Skeptic Magazine from Australian Skeptics until Tim Mendham was appointed the new editor in June 2009.

In 2003 Saunders co-founded The Mystery Investigators Show with Alynda Brown and Ian Bryce. The program teaches students to use science and critical thinking to investigate claims of the paranormal, such as water divining, spoon bending, and firewalking.[17] In 2008 Brown left the show and was replaced by biologist Dr. Rachael Dunlop. In 2013 the show celebrated 10 years of performing.

Saunders was producer and host of The Tank Vodcast (aka The Skeptic Tank).[21] In 2008 this podcast became The Skeptic Zone podcast, which has had its 500th episode in May 19, 2018.[9] It appears weekly and is billed as "The Podcast from Australia for Science and Reason."[22] Saunders has produced every episode of The Skeptic Zone podcast.[9]

In July and August 2008 (series #1) and in 2011 (series #2), he appeared as the resident skeptic judge on The One, an Australian reality television program on the Seven Network that tested the powers of several alleged psychics.[2][43][44]

Saunders produced the Vaccination Chronicles in 2014. The film is a 30-minute documentary collects first-hand anecdotes about the real horrors faced by parents of recent generations, when many saw their children die from diseases which are now preventable with vaccines.[54]

In 2018, Saunders was interviewed by Rob Palmer for Skeptical Inquirer magazine, in which he talked about his time in the skeptics movement and the history of The Skeptic Zone podcast.[9]